Capture This!

A multisensory moment of mid-September

If I could create a time capsule for this season, it would contain a whole sensory experience from this September moment in time, a few bits & pieces from each of us.

From my two-year-old Jael, I would include a brief write up of how to play Match-Match, her favorite game.

“Match, Match!” she says to the Amish lady at our farmer’s market, “Dress, dress!” She excitedly points out that they are both wearing dresses. The lady chuckles. Among other things we have match-matched are nail polish with strangers and Jael and her sister both wearing a striped shirt. It’s become a bit of a game with our friends at this point, trying to figure out what matches as fast as Jael calls it out. Sometimes I can see it immediately - everybody is wearing glasses. Other times, it takes a few minutes to realize that the match is that two people have sandals on or a scrap of pink in their outfit or are both eating a snack. My favorite thing about Match-Match is how easily a two-year-old can find a commonality between herself and most people. 

I would have a blue crayon to remind me about when she knew all her colors but still consistently called blue “orange,” and feel the deep vibrating dwarf notes of her favorite bedtime song “Misty Mountains Cold” (or as she calls it “Far Over”). A dried flower that she picked me on one of our many walks and a copy of her favorite book “If Puppies Had Pockets” that I practically have memorized would be gently tucked in.

From my two-month-old Lucía, I would definitely put in my Happy Baby Carrier that gets more miles on it every day, and the sensation of her hand gripping my shirt as she nurses. I'd include the scent of newborn and the softness of her dark hair, and a few beams of sunshine to remind me of her smile.

Luis's artifacts would be a business card as he works hard to provide for our family, Splendor - our favorite date night game, and his CBUA umpire ball cap that always inspires him to tell a corny Cuba joke. He had the dad jokes long before being a dad!

And from me, my canyon clay colored laces from my Earthrunner sandals that broke after I wore them out this summer wearing them constantly. I'd carefully set in my white pottery Every Woman a Theologian mug to represent my ritual of preparing coffee, usually cold brew with a splash of creamy foam. I would dust the mug with the rich scent of freshly ground Colombian coffee. My catch-all lemon notebook captures slivers of my life in the form of grocery lists, writing ideas, and sermon notes and so it could be included as well.

I'd sprinkle a little cinnamon, a little crisp fall leaf smell, a book list for the library, and a dash of melancholy to round out my time capsule.

Then, I would take a deep inhale and a sloooowwww exhale.

"It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life." - J.R.R. Tolkien

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Moment in Time".